Study: Diabetes risk rises with commonly used blood pressure drugs

Two new classes of blood-pressure medications are less likely to be associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, especially among people already at risk, compared with some of the more commonly used blood pressure drugs, according to new research.

Researchers at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, examined 22 clinical trials with more than 143,000 participants. While all of the participants had high blood pressure they did not have diabetes at the start of the trials. Angiotensin-receptor blockers and angiotensin-converting-enzyme, also known as ACE inhibitors, were less frequently associated with diabetes, as well as calcium-channel blockers, according to the study report. Beta blockers and diuretics, however, are most likely to precipitate diabetes, according to researchers, who noted that these type drugs are used most often to treat high blood pressure in the United States.

Nevertheless, a person's risk of getting diabetes while taking beta blockers and diuretics depends on a number of factors. Researchers determined that treatment of high blood pressure needs to be individually tailored. The study report was published in The Lancet.